Kaufmann J E - The Atlantic Wall : History and Guide

First published in Great Britain in 2011 by

Pen & Sword Military

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

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Barnsley

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Copyright J.E. Kaufmann, H.W. Kaufmann, Aleksander Jankovic

Potocnik and Vladimir Tonic, 2012

ISBN 978 1 84884 387 5
eISBN 978 1 78337 838 8

The right of J.E. Kaufmann, H.W. Kaufmann, Aleksander Jankovic- Potocnik and Vladimir Tonic to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Contents

Dedication

To: Luci, Willy, Junior and Alpha.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following people for their assistance on this project: Jens Andersen (information on German defences in Denmark and archival material), Dennis Blazey (material on German defences in the Channel Islands), Alain Chazette (information on the Atlantic Wall in France), Dennis Doeve, John Flaherty, Harald Isachsen (information and material on German artillery and Norway), Patrice Lang (photos), Alain Lecomte, Bernard Lowry, Svein Olsen (information and photos on fortifications in Norway and the Channel Islands), Bernard Paich (documents and information on the Atlantic Wall in France), Frank Philippart (information on the Atlantic Wall in Belgium), Dan Reedtz (information and photos on Danish and Norwegian fortifications), Erick Ritterbach (information on Atlantic Wall batteries in Norway), Rudi Rolf (information on typology and German fortifications), Marc Romanych, Gordon Rottman (German army TO&E), Martin Rupp (information on German coastal batteries), Hans Sakkers (information on the Atlantic Wall in the Netherlands), Herbert Shiller (photos), Colonel Michal Svejgaard (details on German radar), Paul Tackley, Lee Unterborn, Caspar Vermuelen and J.B. Wahl (information and plans on the Atlantic Wall in Norway).

Our reader, John Stokes, sadly passed away before completion of the project. We are also grateful to Danish historian Jens Andersen not only for providing a great deal of material, but also for helping edit the manuscript and serving as our reader. His help was invaluable.

Glossary of Terms

Abteilung: Battalion, detachment; administrative a department or section

Batterie: Battery

Bauform: Design

Behelfsbau (Bh): Provisional (temporary) construction

Beobachtungsglocken: Observation cloche with small openings; see Cloche

Beobachtungsstnde: Observation post and fire-control position

Bettung: Firing position; see Offene Bettung

Bodenstndig: Static unit . Often a coastal army division lacking mobility

Bucht or Bight : Bay or gulf; a bend in the shoreline

Cloche: French term for a fixed armoured cupola. The Germans refer to them as fixed turrets in most cases; see Beobachtungsglocken and Sechsschartenturm

Dombunker: Cathedral-type bunker, the name derived from its high curved roof. One type was used for railway guns and another for U-boats

E-boat: Allied term for German S-boats (fast torpedo boats)

Ersatz: Replacement

Festung: Fortress

Festungbereichen (FB): Fortified areas

Festung Pioneer Stab (Fest.Pi.Stab): Fortification engineer staff

Flugmeldedient or Flum: Aircraft warning service

Funkmess(ortungs): Radar (detection)

Gefechtsstand: Command post

Geshtzschartenstnd: Gun casemate

Hedgehogs: Steel pieces welded and bolted together to form an obstacle; Allied troops said they reminded them of childrens Jacks

Heer: German army

Heeres-Ksten-Artillerie-Abteilung or Regiment (HKAA or HKAR): Army Coastal Battalion or Artillery Regiment

Hemmbalken: Break beams or Stop beams; large wooden posts used to prevent landing craft from reaching a beach

Hemmkurven: Curved steel rail obstacles

Holzpfhlen: Wooden poles placed upright in fields to prevent air landings; referred to as Rommels asparagus

Kampfstand: Combat position mounting a machine-gun or an artillery weapon

Kernwerk: Core position of some fortresses

Kleinkampverbnde: Small combat units; flotillas of motor explosive boats and midget submarines

Kriegsmarine: German Navy

Ksten Verteidigung Abschnitt (KVA): Divisional sector for coastal defence

Ksten Verteidigung Gruppe (KVG): Regimental sector for coastal defence

Leitstand: Fire-control post

Luftwaffe: German Air Force

Marine-Artillerie-Abteilungen (MAA): Naval Artillery Regiment

Nachrichtenstand: Communications post

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP : German National Socialist Workers Party (shortened to Nazi Party)

Oberbefehlshaber West (OB West): Commander-in-Chief West

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW): Armed Forces High Command

Oberkommando des Heeres ( OKH ) : Army High Command

Offene Bettung: Open gun positions, often concreted; in many cases they were circular with some covered areas for ammunition storage

Peilstand: Angle measuring post for a coastal artillery position, used to help determine the range of the target from a base station (often the command post)

Rumbootbunkers: Concrete pens for R-boats Rumboote: Motor minesweeper known as R-boat (not to be confused with the larger minesweepers known as Minensuchboote )

Regelbauten: Standard design (adjective Regelbau )

Ringstand: A design that includes an open emplacement usually circular for one man or a gun crew, inspired by the Italian Tobruk fortifications in North Africa

Schartenstand: Generic term for a casement or bunker for a machine-gun, antitank gun or artillery piece

Schnellboot: Fast motor torpedo boat or S-Boat (not to be confused with the much larger and slower torpedo boats)

Schnellbootbunkers: Concrete pens for S-boats

Schtzenloch: Weapons pits for riflemen, machine-guns or mortars; field fortifications consisting of permanent positions that could be part of strongpoints

Schwere: Heavy

Sechsschartenturm: Six-embrasure turret cloche mounting two machine-guns and periscopes; see Cloche

Seekommandant (Seeko): Regional sea commander or regional sea command

Seezielbatterie: Battery for engaging surface targets (ships)

Sicherung Division: Naval security formation equipped with various types of small vessel

Sonderkonstruktion (SK): Special design

Spall, spalling: Flakes of a material broken off a larger solid body; they can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ball-bearing). Spalling and spallation both describe the process of surface failure in which spall is shed.